


In Which They're Definitely Not In Love

by Unholy_Author



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Angst?, Bottom Eren, Levi is an ass, M/M, Mermaids cause why not, Plot With Porn, Sassy Eren, Top Levi, also smut, discontinued, dom/sub dynamics, eren doesn't care, fluff at some point, mer Eren, mer Levi, slight a/b/o, they're totally in love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-01
Updated: 2016-09-05
Packaged: 2018-07-28 18:43:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 17
Words: 17,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7652539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Unholy_Author/pseuds/Unholy_Author
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eren accidentally trespasses on Levi's territory and Levi lets him stay because he's injured. No other reason.</p><p>DISCONTINUED</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Blood and Trespassing

Eren knew it would catch up to him eventually. The dipping in and out of dominant mer territory for the protection their scent and presence provided. He knew it would catch up with him, but without a pod he had few options and it seemed the best course of action. Until he was sent from one such territory with bruises on his hips and claw marks down the sides of his tail. One dominant mer had caught him in her territory and wanted the submissive to stay. She was still on his trail, following the blood in the water as he darted away.

~There~ He thought, finally picking up on another scent. It was another dominant mer with territory that came flush against the one he’d trespassed into. He whipped through the water as quickly as he could, worsening the wounds, and reached the new territory. He didn’t stop swimming, though. He’d known dominants to be so intent on their goal that they would venture into others domain even with the threat of a fight.

Eren wasn’t sure how long he swam before deciding it would be okay to rest. He quickly found a small, out of the way cave that would provide the shelter he needed to get healed. He poked his head inside cautiously, making sure it wasn’t already inhabited, before swimming in. It was a bit smaller than what Eren would have picked for himself but it would have to do. He needed to fix himself and get moving again. It didn’t pay to dwell in dominant territory.

The cave was made out of volcanic rock, porous and dark in a way Eren found enticing. The floor was sand with a large boulder off to one side leaning against a wall in a way that said it had been there for quite a long time. Eren went to the boulder instinctively and wiggled his way into the small opening that was left between the wall, boulder, and ground. It was entirely cramped and verged on claustrophobic, but Eren knew that it would be safe. 

He was a tropical merman, one more suited for sunning himself on rocks with his pod above the water and singing to sailors as they passed. It was a cruel irony that the small mer found himself in the cold, deep ocean without a single friend in sight.

~~~~~

Levi scented the air and scowled. There was blood nearby. His long tail flicked in an almost effortless way that propelled him through the water to find the source of this new smell. It was definitely mer and it was definitely not dominant, making Levi wonder what was going on. Submissive mers rarely strayed from their pods unless they were being courted and the scent of blood made him think there had been an attack on a pod. Whatever the case was, he needed to check it out.

It didn’t take Levi long to follow the blood, rich and coppery with the strange sweetness of a submissive, and it led him to a cave that was very much a part of his territory. Resisting a growl of displeasure, Levi went in and looked around. He didn’t see anything at first and almost entertained the idea that he’d been wrong. Almost. He could still smell the blood along with the mingling scent of an unfamiliar mer.

“Mind explaining why you’re clouding up my water with your blood?” Levi growled, not bothering to hide his annoyance. He couldn’t even see who he was talking to despite knowing they were there and it only made his mood darken further. He didn’t like things that could hide themselves from him. Several moments of silence went by and he was about to hunt down whatever mer was in his cave when he heard a soft reply.

“I’ll leave, I just meant to rest here until I was better.” Came the placating words.

“Come out.” Levi snapped. What little patience he had was gone and he wanted to be rid of his uninvited guest as soon as possible. Sure enough, a small mer wormed his way out of a small opening Levi hadn’t seen. Levi’s eyes widened slightly. It was a tropical mer. The last time he’d seen one of those had been several years before when he’d been searching for his own territory and got too close to warm water for his comfort.

This one was obviously hurt. His stomach was mottled purple and blue and his bright green tail had deep gouges in it, clearly a dominant’s work. From the placement of the wounds Levi knew that it wasn’t exactly an attack, but more likely an attempt to mate the submissive.

“I’ll leave.” The green-eyed submissive said again. Levi’s mind snapped back to the situation and assessed the tropical mer carefully. This was a one-of-a-kind opportunity. Cold-water submissives were rare and tropical mers even more so. Levi’s instinct pushed him to pin him, to convince him to bond right there. He had a feeling that the other dominant had felt those exact same emotions and hadn’t been able to control them.

“What happened?” Levi asked instead of moving and letting the younger, smaller man leave. He seemed surprised by the question, but answered anyway.

“I wandered into the wrong territory.” He said evasively. Levi narrowed his eyes. The brat was hiding something.

“What’s your name?”

“Eren. What’s yours?” There was a moment where Levi considered not answering before he finally gave his name in a smooth, unimpressed tone.

“Levi. Why is a tropical down here? This is too deep and too cold for you.”

“Obviously not, because I’m here, aren’t I?” The younger mer said breezily. He made a move to swim for the exit, even with Levi still blocking him, but the cold-water mer moved further in front of him and completely cut off his escape. Eren gave him an exasperated look.

“Do you want me to leave or not?” He asked.

“I never told you to leave, I asked you some questions.” Levi responded languidly, circling the bright younger male. Poseidon, he was eye-catching.

Eren took full use of the opportunity he was given, examining the other merman up close while he himself was being examined. Like all cold-waters, the dark haired grouch had a very dark tail that was very thick and muscular, lacking several of the fins tropicals had. The scales on his back encroached on the sides of his stomach and contrasted gorgeously with his pale skin.

Eren hadn’t realized he was staring until Levi cleared his throat and raised an eyebrow when their eyes finally met.

“Are you done?”

“Sorry, I’ve never seen a cold-water this close before. Well, not one that wasn’t trying to attack me.” Eren said honestly. The green-tailed mer watched the other for any sign of disgust or disbelief but all he saw was a seemingly natural look of faint displeasure. There were several tense moments and then Levi glanced down at the mer’s injured tail again.

“Stay if you’d like, but only until you’re better. Don’t leave a mess, don’t get in my way, don’t be a dick, and seriously…” Levi added as he began swimming back out. “…don’t mess with the neighbors.”


	2. Kelp and Fighting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Language and violence warnings for this chapter. It ties into the next chapter, but you can skip if you want.

Eren spent the rest of the day in the cave, out of both slight fear and respect of the dominant male whose territory he was encroaching on. When the sun set, however, he wandered out to find food and something to help the pain in his tail. He had no hesitation in going out in the dark because he trusted his night-vision to help keep him aware of his surroundings. It was significantly dimmer without the sun, but not unmanageable.

Several hours later, Eren returned to the barren cave with an armful of kelp and muscles he had found. First, he ripped open the muscles and sucked out the delicious flesh that was inside the hard shells. Then he stripped the leaves from the kelp plants he’d brought and smashed the stems into a paste with a rock and put the paste in one of the empty half-shells. Eren took the leaves and wrapped them around the cuts in his tail gingerly. Using the paste the bind the leaves together, he covered the wounds and hoped that they would heal soon. He had some extra kelp paste and smeared it over the abused scales on his lower back and up his sides. He shivered slightly at the contact and tried to finish the unpleasant task as quickly as possible. 

Finally done, Eren cleared away the rocks and hard bits of one section of the cave and settled down. He was exhausted and fell asleep very quickly.

\----------

Levi scowled at the mermaid that he’d found swimming back and forth along the border between their territories.

“What are you doing here?” He asked with his carefully indifferent yet intimidating voice.

“You’re keeping a submissive from me.” The woman growled, her tail whipping through the water angrily as she paced in front of him.

“What gives you that idea?” Levi asked coolly. He was deceptively still, his tail beneath him and his arms crossed as he stayed in place, perfectly upright even without his tail moving and helping him balance in the water.

“I saw him come this way. I can smell him here.” She snarled. She was getting worked up very quickly. It was understandable, unmated submissives were valuable and often fought over. The other dominant was letting her instinct get ahead of her mind and Levi could tell she was becoming angry.

“I didn’t say he wasn’t here, but I am saying that I’m not keeping him from you.”

“Send him to me.” The woman demanded, pausing her movements long enough to glare at Levi in a way she probably hoped was intimidating.

“No.” Levi replied easily. She snapped her teeth and the fins behind her pointed ears flared in her displeasure. Her caudal trembled with her anger. Levi felt his own fins flare in response to the obvious threat display and took an instantly assessment of his potential enemy. One of her eight canines was broken, but that could make it sharper and more dangerous. She was also thinner than him and her claws were short. Levi felt confident he could win.

Suddenly she lunged, hands extended and a snarl on her face. Levi’s tail jerked up and threw the woman off balance, pushing her too far up to reach him. The move also shoved his torso down and he wrapped his tail around the other’s, rolling them in the water so he was above her before shoving her into the sand. Her teeth clamped down on his shoulder and he hissed angrily. He jerked away from her and purposefully let her tear his flesh so that she wouldn’t have a hold on him anymore. Blood bloomed from the wound and clouded the air around them, making it hard to see. Levi didn’t let that slow him down. He knew that if he hesitated she could kill him. He raked his claws down her delicate stomach, parting the skin and sinking deep into her. She squealed in pain. One of her hands snapped to his throat and her claws dug into the side, threatening to rip out his windpipe. He instantly reared back and bit her in several places on her hands and arms. She wormed her way out of the hold his tail had on her and tried to sink her claws into his back, only managing to make a few wounds through his scales. She separated and they circled each other for a moment.

“I’m giving you a chance to leave.” Levi warned. She snarled but stopped, her tail moving lazily.

“You can’t keep him.” She snapped before turning and disappearing back into her own water. Levi watched her carefully for a few moments, pressed a hand to his wounded shoulder. Normally he would have stayed and made sure the boundary was still clear but he was fairly certain that the scent of his blood would be enough. Slowly, he went back to his own cave. 

“This day has gone straight to Jones’s locker.” Levi muttered to himself. “I just wanted to know what was happening. That was it. That’s all I wanted.” He scowled and looked at his bloody hand, rubbing it against his scales to wash it off in the water. He wondered when, exactly, his simple excursion got so fucked up.


	3. Flirting and Scales

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Overwatch servers are down, so I might as well write some more. I'm sure none of you will mind lol.

Eren woke when his ear fins picked up on a strange water shift. He sat up quickly and his fins all twitched in the beginning of a threat display. Then, seeing what had caused the shift, he relaxed and sat up with his tail tucked beneath him.

“Good morning.” Eren murmured. Levi just looked back at him for a moment, arms crossed over his chest. Eren sniffed habitually and his eyes widened. “Holy crap, you’re hurt. What happened?”

“I ran into a rock.” Levi lied. It in no way explained his wounds and he knew it. Eren knew it, too. The tropical snorted skeptically.

“Sure, you did. I absolutely believe that.” He pushed himself off the ground and swam over to Levi, swimming a curious circle around him.

“What are you doing?” Levi asked gruffly.

“Checking your wounds. You have a few broken scales.” He said, lightly touching Levi’s side. The dominant hissed and Eren swatted his arm. “Stop that.”

“Stop poking me.” Levi snapped back.

“I’m not poking, I’m checking. You should really pull these out.” Eren advised. He’d seen quite a few broken scales in his pod and while you could wait for them to fall out, it was much faster to just rip it out.

“This isn’t what I’m here for.” Levi sighed, making Eren pull back and look at him.

“Then what are you here for?” 

“To warn you. I found the mer you pissed off and she’s made it clear she’s after you. I’d recommend you go back to your pod as quickly as possible.” Levi said. It would be a shame to see the mer off. He’d never seen such an attractive submissive and his instinct itched to force him to stay. 

“I don’t have a pod.” Eren said. His tone was breezy but his expression darkened almost instantly. Levi quirked an eyebrow curiously. Eren caught the look, sighed, and continued on with an explanation. “I left weeks ago. There was a huge outbreak of tail rot that took our at least two other pods and everyone that didn’t have a mate scattered to avoid it.”

“Then where are you going?” Levi asked, brow furrowing in confusion. This little mer couldn’t possibly have hoped to survive in the deep, cold water that Levi lived in.

“I’m hoping to find another tropical pod. Even just a coral reef would be enough for me. You don’t know of any nearby here, do you?” Eren asked sarcastically. He knew there wasn’t.

“I can’t say I do.” Levi replied, smirking. Eren ignored the banter and turned his face upwards for a moment, thoughtful.

“Well, this is awfully close to her territory. I guess I should get moving. My tail’s still a bit banged up so I won’t get very far, maybe one or two territories. Hopefully out of dominant domain all together.”

“If you really want to leave go to the south, there are fewer dominants there. Or you could stay.” Levi internally groaned but he kept his face passive. Why? Why would he offer that? ~Just stop talking. Don’t say anything else.~ “My cave is far enough that it should be safe.” He said, talking despite his own conviction to remain silent.

Eren seemed startled. Levi was too, but he was sure it didn’t show on his face.

“What?” Well the offer was already out there. He couldn’t exactly take it back now, he might as well run with it.

“You could stay with me. Until you’re better.” Eren smirked.

“I wouldn’t dream of staying any longer. I’d hate to wear out my welcome.” Eren said, his voice flirtatious.

“As handsome as you are? You could stay as long as you like and not wear out your welcome.” Levi countered without thinking. Eren gave a crooked smile that made Levi’s heart beat just a little faster.

“If I didn’t know any better I would think you were hitting on me.” He said almost happily. He certainly wasn’t against the idea. The dominant was very handsome and Eren was very unmated. ~It doesn’t hurt to look and flirt.~ Eren mentally reasoned. His thoughts were abruptly cut off by Levi’s wince. 

“You should let me look at that.” Eren said.

“I’m fine.” Levi said, shrugging off the offer.

“Uh huh, sure you are. Come here.” Eren demanded. Levi made a face that clearly said he was only doing this to humor him. Then he swam over and allowed Eren to probe him gently. His fingers ghosted over the torn shoulder, scratched chest and stomach, and broken scales.

“Must have been one strange fight.” Eren muttered, amused.

“You should see the rock.” Levi said. He was about to add something but growled instead as a sharp pain shot through his back. It happened three more times in a rapid fashion and Eren spoke.

“There, no more broken scales. Your new ones will come in much faster now.” He said, stroking Levi’s shoulder from behind him. Levi shuddered at the contact and Eren’s hand pulled away slightly.

“Sorry, didn’t mean for that to hurt.” It hadn’t been pain that made Levi react, but he didn’t tell the tropical merman that. He just stayed quiet and let him continue.

Eren fanned some water over the wound and cleaned out sand and a few small bits of rock that had gotten in before examining the bruising and pinpricks of blood on his throat.

“I didn’t realize you were into that sort of thing.” Eren said with a sly smile.

“I didn’t realize treating my wounds would turn you on so much.” Levi retorted. “I’m fine, I’m fine.” He added, finally growing tired of what Eren was doing.

“Alright, but you need to be careful. Don’t mess with any rocks.” Eren said. Levi rolled his eyes and began swimming out only to stop when he realized Eren wasn’t following him.

“Aren’t you coming?” Levi asked. “We both agreed my cave would be better for you.” Eren grinned eagerly and nodded.

“Sure thing.”


	4. Stories and Thought

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I told you Levi is an ass.

“You know, you’re the first cold-water mer that I’ve met that hasn’t tried to kill or mate me.” Eren said. Levi glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. Eren had no idea that every part of Levi screamed for him to pin and bond with the little mer.

“You’re the first tropical mer I’ve met.” Levi said, because he had to respond and couldn’t exactly say whatever was on his mind.

“I can’t imagine why.” Eren laughed before shuddering. “It’s so cold down here, I might lose a fin or two.” Levi smirked.

“Well you don’t need all of those anyway. All you need is your caudal and ear fins. Anything else is just excessive.”

“To you, maybe, but it keeps us from getting overheated. It draws the blood away from our core and gives it a chance to cool off. They also look pretty.” Eren added a little vainly. 

“They draw attention to you. That’s not a good thing down here.” Levi said without thinking. Eren made a little noise that was somewhere between concerned and thoughtful and Levi frowned at himself. 

“I suppose you’re right.” Eren said with a frown before suddenly perking up. “All the more reason to find a coral reef. I’ll blend in there.”

“Not until you’re better. Only dumbasses travel with a bad tail.” Levi replied. He was just worried for the other. He didn’t want Eren getting hurt because he didn’t wait long enough. That was why he didn’t want him to leave. 

Levi frowned. His heart was beating strangely and his fins trembled. There must have been something in the water agitating him. Eren had mentioned tail rot, maybe he’d carried some sort of tropical virus into the deep with him. He didn’t feel sick though, just…odd.

“Are you alright? You look upset.” Eren said. He paused for a moment to scoop up an interesting looking shell and examined it as Levi responded.

“No, that’s just how I look. Hange says it makes me look too intense but I can’t exactly help it.” Levi said with a shrug.

“Who’s Hange?” Eren asked curiously. From what he knew cold-water mers kept mostly to themselves, so it was a bit strange to think of Levi knowing another mer well enough for that kind of conversation.

“They’re a mer that lives just east of here.” Levi explained with only a slight hesitation. “They’re a friend of mine. Them and Erwin are the only mers around here I really trust.”

“I suppose I won’t meet them, then. If I’m going south I won’t have a reason to.”

“That’s probably for the best. They can get a bit…overexcited at times. If they found out there was a tropical near here they’d most likely try to steal you back to their territory.” Levi snorted. He had no doubt in his mind that that’s exactly what would happen.

“I miss my friends.” Eren said suddenly. Levi’s eyes slid to the man but he didn’t say anything. Eren looked like he’d regretted the words the moment they left his mouth. A few heartbeats passed before Levi finally broke the awkward silence.

“You should have stayed with them, then. It would have been safer to have a group.”

“No, there were only two of them and one was a dominant. She wouldn’t have been able to protect two submissives.”

“Did she say that?” Levi asked curiously. None of the dominants he knew would ever admit to being unable to protect anyone. Even if they were presented with an entire pod of submissives they would try and make it work rather than even hint at needing help. 

“No, but it’s not hard to guess. One dominant, two submissives, it would be hard for anyone.” Eren said with a shrug. Levi flicked his tail powerfully and stopped in front of Eren, turning to look him in the eye.

“You left your friends because of what you thought they could handle. They’re out there somewhere worrying about you, worrying about if you’re alright or if you’re dead of tail rot or humans or whatever!” Levi practically snarled. “You have people who care about you and you left them because of something you came up with on your own without even talking to them about it.” Eren’s eyes widened, startled, and the fins at his hips, halfway down his tail, and just above his caudal all opened slightly. Levi could smell the sour fear that radiated off the merman and snapped his teeth together lightly, upset at himself.

“Let’s go.” He growled, whipping around and darting off through the water. Eren had no trouble keeping up with him but hung back slightly. He had no idea what he’d done to anger the other and had no intentions of repeating whatever it was. He mentally told himself that he was going to leave as soon as he could.


	5. Caves and Scent

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm kind of thinking of dropping this story, because I haven't been getting as much feedback lately. If you'd like me to continue please let me know.

The cave Eren followed Levi to was large and mostly bare. He could clearly see two tunnels that branched off of the cave to places unknown.

“Wow.” Eren murmured, unable to stop the awed word. Levi glanced at him and smirked.

“I thought tropical mermaids were all about decoration.” Levi half asked and half said. Eren looked around as he answered, swimming around the perimeter of the room and gently running a hand on the rock walls. 

“We are. I mean, it’s not EVERYTHING but it is very important. Being flashy is how we intimidate people and how we attract mates. We just really like shiny things, I guess.” Eren murmured. He paused and swam up to the ceiling, running his fingers along the stone protrusions. Something in the rock made it shimmer ever so slightly in his peripheral vision. He wondered what it would look like when night fell and all he had to rely on was his night vision.

“This place must suck to you. Being surrounded by drab mers and drab seas.” Levi said. He hadn’t meant to speak at all, but he didn’t seem to be able to control himself.

“Mm, no I’m used to that. Even if it’s not as colorful as I’d like.” He added with a chuckle. “The hardest part is how antisocial you all are. Pods all sleep together and I still miss being with mers all the time. Oh, sorry! That sounded rude.” Eren said, whirling around to look down at Levi. His fins flared slightly in surprise when he turned and Levi was only a few feet away. Levi grinned and Eren returned with a slightly bashful smile.

“You’re fine.” Levi said softly. Eren blushed, his face flushing an adorable pink color. 

"Were you ever with other mers?" Eren asked. Levi shrugged.

"Not really. When I was young I stayed with my parents but I don't remember them. It's pretty normal for us."

"Wow, I couldn't do that. I liked physical contact too much." Eren said before flushing deeply when he realized how that sounded. "I mean, I'm not saying that I want to touch everyone and I'm not going to touch YOU and..." Eren was babbling. His blush was adorable and the dominant let off an intoxicating scent almost unconsciously. Levi's eyes narrowed as he watched Eren inhale deeply. 

After that a lot of things happened in a very short amount of time. Eren shuddered and his eyes closed as he took several more deep breaths, his own submissive scent coming off of him in response. Levi lunged, his hands gripping Eren’s upper arms and pushing him back against the rock. Eren moaned and his hands went to Levi’s hips. The action only spurred Levi on and he ground his hips into the other mer’s. He was already hard and he could feel a slight bulge that told him Eren was quickly getting there as well. 

“Levi.” Eren gasped. Levi growled and bit Eren’s shoulder. “No, Levi.” Eren said, no less flustered. Levi tried to uncloud his mind long enough to figure out what the hell Eren was trying to tell him and suddenly realized that there was another dominant's scent flooding his cave. The cave his mate was in. The cave that his small, non-aggressive tropical mate was in. 

“Fucking hell.” Levi snarled. He whipped around and his fins flared, hissing a threat as he snapped his teeth together and bared all eight of his canines. 

Whoever this invading dominant was, Levi would tear them apart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Most inconvenient cock block ever. XD


	6. Interruptions and Omens

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me just say that I love all of you so much. I didn't expect this kind of outpouring of love over my doubt, and I'm definitely seeing this story through to the end. (For those who asked, smut will be coming very soon, I promise!)
> 
> Reminder that I accept prompts if you want to see something specific!

“No, no! Don’t stop because of me!” A feminine voice called. Levi snapped his teeth together angrily and whipped back and forth in the water in front of his mate. He paused. When did he start thinking of the other mer as his mate? 

“Seriously, Levi, go back to what you were doing. I want to see how the mating between a tropical and a cold-water would be different in comparison with two cold-waters.” Levi growled, remembering his anger.

“Levi, who is this?” Eren whispered from behind him. Levi sighed and glanced over his shoulder, clearly not concerned about the new dominant attacking.

“This is Hange, the idiot I was telling you about.” He said in a completely flat and emotionless tone. Eren’s face was still flushed and he wanted nothing more than to drag him down to the bottom of his cave and fuck him senseless.

“How rude.” Hange countered, unperturbed as she swam closer. She went to move around Levi and get closer to Eren but Levi darted to block her path and hissed.

“Stay back.” He warned her darkly. She waved a dismissive hand.

“I just want to ask him a few questions, you know I don’t feel the need to mate.”

“You will not touch him.”

The two went back and forth for several minutes and Eren was careful to stay behind Levi, keeping him between the tropical and the mysterious new dominant at all times. He had absolutely no reason to think Levi would protect him, but something in his instincts begged for him to get closer. He was also very pleased with Levi’s possessive behavior even though there was no basis for it. A small voice in the back of his mind screamed for Eren to drag Levi back and finish what they started but another, more rational part, was a bit put-off by how easily he could have succumbed to mating with the strange mer.

“It’s fine if I look at you and ask some questions, right?” Hange asked, pulling Eren out of his own thoughts.

“Umm… I suppose?” Eren murmured uncertainly. His hesitation didn’t stop Hange from immediately swimming below Levi and coming up in front of Eren. She dragged a hand up Eren’s bright green tail and he shuddered.

“Wow, you have so many fins!” She exclaimed. Eren flinched in slight pain when her hand ran over the healing wounds in his tail. Levi saw it and snarled, instantly at his side. Hange didn’t even look at him, instead just frowning.

“What happened?” She asked.

“Someone tried to mate me and it didn’t go well.” Eren said with a cringe. Hange gasped and glared at Levi accusingly.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” She shouted. “The first time you have sex with your mate and you fuck him up.” She said, a disappointed frown on her face.

“I didn’t do it!”

“He’s not my mate!” Levi and Eren shouted at the same time. Hange smiled predatorily and turned to Eren.

“He’s not your mate, huh? Then what exactly did I just stumble on you two doing?” She asked him cheekily. Eren flushed deeply and Levi found himself entranced by the sight.

“But why do you have so many fins? And why is your tail so colorful?” Hange asked, resuming her hand-sy examination.

“Hange.” Levi said, a low warning in his tone.

“Does the water depth bother you? Why are you all the way out here? Where is your jewelry? I heard that all tropical mers wear jewelry.” Hange rambled. Eren just seemed flustered until the last question, brief hurt and regret flashing across his face as his hand twitched toward his stomach. That was it for Levi.

“Hange, get out of my territory.” The dark haired dominant demanded. Hange looked at him, confused, and then her eyes widened.

“Oh, I needed to tell you something! I’d forgotten what I’d come over here for in the first place. There have been sightings of blue-tailed cold-waters nearby.” Instantly Levi stiffened and his fins rose slightly in agitation. Eren furrowed his brow.

“What does that mean? I thought all cold-waters had black scales.” Eren said, confused.

“Not all of us. And if they’re coming it means a lot of good mers are going to die.” Levi responded grimly.


	7. Old Wounds and New Fights

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love you guys so much I decided to drop two chapters today, I hope you enjoy!

“How far away are they?” Levi asked Hange, ignoring the horrified look on Eren’s face.

“Not far. They’ve been circling Erwin’s territory. Did you know Erwin took a mate? He won’t tell me who it is, but Annie took one as well so I imagine the new mers had been traveling together.” 

Annie was a submissive that had been living in Erwin’s territory for the protection. If they both took mates it meant that there had been a wandering submissive and dominant. Odd. Levi didn’t have time to think about that, however, and promised himself a chance to ponder it later.

“I don’t care about their stupid mates, Hange. Focus on the real issue here. Did the mers look like they were going to attack?” Hange gave him a condescending smile.

“When do they not attack? It doesn’t matter what they look like they’re going to do, they’re going to attack. From what Erwin’s told me the pod’s at least two dozen strong.”

“Wait, but cold-waters don’t travel in pods.” Eren said. Levi gave him a withering look.

“Brat, you also said we don’t have blue scales. Just trust us, alright? These blue-scaled mers are bad for everyone. They travel in small pods and can form larger ones if they find other mers. Their entire existence revolves around killing others and taking their territory. They’re ruthless, they don’t take mates, and they won’t stop until all of their competition is dead. When they don’t have other mers to worry about they’ll turn on each other. They have no sense of loyalty.” Levi added with a sneer.

“Wait, they’ll kill their own kind?” Eren asked, horrified. “I mean, I know it happens sometimes but not on PURPOSE.” Levi didn’t want to tell Eren that it actually wasn’t uncommon for cold-waters to kill each other over territory or mating disputes. Suddenly Eren’s face scrunched up.

“Wait a minute, how do they not take mates? How do they have children?” Levi tensed. Almost sensing his reluctance to answer, Hange spoke up.

“Oh, that’s actually quite fascinating. You see, they don’t have submissives. They’re all dominant. In order to reproduce they have to rape submissives from other mer populations. The submissive will be kept and taken care of until they give birth. They’re normally killed shortly after.” Hange said, a sort of enthusiastic glee about her. Eren’s eyes widened and he paled. He looked at Levi almost instinctively.

“They rape submissives and they’re around here?” He whispered.

“I won’t let anyone touch you.” Levi snapped. His fins were trembling with anger just at the thought and Eren found comfort in it for some strange reason.

Instead of voicing that comfort, however, Eren decided that pushing his luck would be much more fun. He slowly drifted toward Hange, Levi’s intense eyes on him, and held out a single finger to poke the other dominant. Levi growled and was by Eren’s side in the blink of an eye, dragging him away as the others laughed.

“Levi.” Eren said, voice soft but filled with the residue of his laugh. 

“What?” Levi asked, eyes lingering suspiciously on Hange, who seemed to be perfectly content swimming around the pair and eyeing Eren from every angle she could find.

“I’m glad I’m with you. I wanted to leave yesterday. I wanted to swim as far away as I possibly could. But I think I could stay here for a little while.” Eren admitted. Levi glanced at him, his heart flipping over in his chest. Did he…? No. The little tropical just meant that he was happy to have a dominant near him when there was danger. Nothing more. Levi begged himself not to look into it, but his heart firmly told him that wasn’t going to be an option.

“Hange, go talk to Annie and her mate and anyone else you can find. Even the mer in the territory west of here.” Levi added, speaking about the one that had attacked Eren. He’d certainly love a chance to be alone with that mer, but it would have to wait. “Get everyone together and tell Erwin that tomorrow we’re coming to him. He’ll need all the help he can get and I don’t want the savages near here.”

“Good idea. I’m sure he’d love the extra claws.” Hange said, cackling as she swept back out with a wave to the pair.

For a moment the cave seemed much larger, Hange’s bubbly presence no longer filling it. Then Levi spoke.

“Are you okay?” He asked. His voice was the gentlest Eren had ever heard and it worried him for a moment.

“Yes, of course. Why do you ask?”

“When Hange brought up the jewelry you seemed upset.” Levi said carefully. The same pang of sorrow flashed across Eren’s face.

“I just miss it, I suppose. I had a lot of jewelry when I was with the pod. It became a huge part of me. I left it behind when I left my friends. It would attract too much attention to me.” Eren told him honestly. It felt good to tell someone. “Each piece was a gift to me and I feel bad about having to leave it all behind, but I can’t go back now. I don’t even know which direction I would go if I wanted to find my way home.” He added with a wry smile.

“Why DID you leave your friends? You said something about the dominant not protecting both you and the other submissive but I don’t understand why you wouldn’t just speak with them.”

“Ah, well it’s not that I think they would have told me it was a good idea to leave, or that they would have sent me away. I think they would have made me stay. That’s why I couldn’t tell them. I didn’t want to be a burden on them and I didn’t want to give them a chance to talk me out of it. I left my jewelry as a goodbye.” Eren’s voice was soft by the end, heavy with painful memories and emotions the dominant didn’t quite understand.

“Eren.” Levi said. The intensity of his voice made Eren look up curiously and cock his head. God, he was beautiful. “Don’t leave without talking to me. Promise me that you won’t.” There was a moment of hesitation, of uncertainty, before Eren nodded.

“I promise.”

“Good, now come on. I’m tired and I have a feeling I’ll need my sleep for tomorrow.” Levi muttered darkly as he took Eren’s hand and led him down one of the tunnels.

Little did he know how exhausting the next day would be.


	8. Cuddles and Teasing

Levi didn’t sleep for the first several hours. The tropical was a damn sleep cuddler and Levi just couldn’t deal with the uncomfortable position at first, but after the smaller mer tucked his head under Levi’s chin, wrapped his arms around Levi’s waist ad tangled their tails together the dominant couldn’t help but relax into him.

After that time passed quickly and Levi was content to stay where he was, even when Eren began fidgeting and stretched slightly.

“Good morning. Oh, I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to fall asleep on you.” Eren exclaimed, rocketing up into a sitting position when he realized he’d been on Levi.

“It’s no problem. If it had bothered me that much I would have shoved you off of me.” Levi said with what he hoped was a nonchalant shrug. Eren looked at him closely and a slow, sexy grin spread across his face.

“So it didn’t bother you, then?” Eren asked. The mischievous look on his face should have tipped Levi off that the submissive was baiting him into something, but he couldn’t hold his tongue.

“Not at all.”

“Then maybe I’ll find an excuse to sleep with you every night.” From the triumphantly smug look on his face, Eren obviously thought this was some sort of fantastically winning remark. Levi smirked in response.

“I don’t need an excuse to want to sleep with you. If you asked nicely, I might even bond with you. Then you’d be mine forever.” His tone had started out teasingly, but by the end it was low and held some emotion neither of the understood. Levi’s hand drifted up to gently touch Eren’s cheek and he leaned into it unconsciously. Levi’s hand fell away.

“But you’re going south. To find the reefs.” Levi said bitterly. They were silent for a moment before Levi sighed. “We’d better get going.”

Eren watched Levi swim back to the main cave and bit his lip. Just the previous day he’d been determined to leave but now…now he kind of wanted to stay. And now Levi seemed to be set on Eren leaving. He was so confused.

“Are you coming?” Levi called. Eren turned toward his voice and swam after him. He could figure it out later.

~~~~~

Levi and Eren ate fish as they swam, Levi leading the way to his friend’s territory.

“Erwin apparently has a new mate and he’s got hostile mers surrounding him. That’s going to make him jumpy and more than a bit off-kilter. You should be fine since you’re obviously a submissive but I’d really rather you stay near me anyways.”

“With a bunch of weird cold-waters that I don’t know all in one place? Trust me. I won’t go too far.” Eren assured him with a chuckle. Levi felt an odd sort of satisfaction at that and allowed himself a grin.

“Good. I have a feeling that an unmated tropical like you will be quite popular depending on who Hange gets. I bet there’ll be a lot of unmated dominants there.”

“Well, you’re an unmated dominant.” Eren said. “They can’t all be that bad.”

“I almost fucked you into a wall yesterday.” Levi said with no small amount of satisfaction. Eren flushed gorgeously in response and Levi laughed. Eren pushed Levi lightly.

“Hey! Don’t make fun of me!” Eren demanded. Levi would be more inclined to feel bad if Eren wasn’t still blushing. Instead, he rolled his eyes.

“I’m not making fun of you. I’m just saying that unmated dominants are a bunch of horny assholes and I’m one of them. I just happen to like you enough to actually try and resist the urge.”

“So you like me, huh?” Eren said with a coy smirk. Levi raised an eyebrow at him.

“No fucking shit, genius.” Had it really taken him that long to put it together? 

Eren grinned happily and looped one of his arms through Levi’s so that they were swimming together, their tails brushing occasionally.

“I kind of like you, too.”


	9. Reunions and Relevations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've gotten quite a few comments asking about Mpreg and to be honest I'm not sure if this series is going to have it. I'm not a big fan of it myself and I'm still thinking and trying to decide how it could fit in with the story I have planned. If you have a preference as to whether or not I include it let me know in the comments.
> 
> As always prompts and comments are loved!

Eren could smell the mers they were meeting with long before they reached Erwin’s territory. There was the strong, musky scent of dominants, the sweet smell of submissives, and mixed in with all of that the scents of individual mers. Eren paused, making Levi pause as well.

“Eren?” Levi asked, brow furrowing in concern. Eren ignored him and sniffed the water. There was something familiar about one or two of the scents, but with everything all muddled together it was hard to tell what it was.

“One moment.” Eren murmured absently as he rose a little higher in the water. There was something…compelling in the water. Something drawing him in. He had a feeling he knew what it was, so he did the one thing he knew he could to check. Eren opened his mouth and sang a few notes, rising in pitch twice before dropping dramatically.

“Eren what are you..?” Levi sighed, cutting off when Eren held up a hand to silence him. A few more moment passed and he sang the four notes again. Then he heard the notes mirrored back. That was all it took for him to rocket off in the direction he heard it from.

“Eren!” He heard Levi shout behind him. He couldn’t stop, though. He had to see. He sang a new song fragment and it was echoed back. This time a third voice mirrored it as well. Using the song, Eren began to converge on a middle point between the three and when he reached it he could see two other figures approaching just as quickly as he had been. The three collided in a massive swarm of tails and fins and grasping hands, much to Levi’s alarm. 

Levi’d followed the tropical deep into Erwin’s territory and was about to intervene, to pull them all off of each other, when he realized that they were all LAUGHING.

“Poseidon, Eren! I thought I’d never see you again!” One of them, a blonde submissive, said enthusiastically.

“Armin, Mikasa.” Eren practically sobbed.

“Shut up and come here.” The female dominant demanded. Eren didn’t hesitate to barrel back into them and they collapsed on top of each other, tails wrapping around bodies and hands sliding against familiar skin and scales.

“What the fuck is happening here?” Levi growled unhappily. The small swarm came to a halt and three sets of eyes were suddenly on him. The new blonde and brunette were both hanging off of Eren, who was just as tangled up in them, and the woman spoke.

“I don’t know who you are but I’m very calmly ignoring the fact that my brother has your scent all over him and you are both obviously hurt. If you move any closer, however, I will move on to very calmly ripping you limb from limb and filleting you.” Levi snapped his teeth together angrily and the fins behind his ears flared in warning.

“Watch your tongue. I would never hurt him.” Levi snarled. Mikasa’s multiple fins flared in response, meeting his warning with her own.

“Both of you, cut it out!” Eren said, wiggling his way between the two dominants. “Levi, this is my sister Mikasa and my best friend Armin. They’re the ones I told you about. Guys, this is Levi. He’s my…he’s helped me out a lot.” Eren said. His sentence stuttered slightly when he tried to explain his closeness with Levi and failed to come up with anything good to describe the relationship.

Levi wasn’t paying attention to that, however, he was looking at the newcomers. Mikasa had a dark blue tail and extra fins in the same places Eren did, her hips, above her caudal, and halfway down her tail. These fins were a slightly lighter shade of blue, as were the scales on her back and sides. Armin had a pale pink color to his tail and scales, with his fins being ever so slightly darker. 

Levi felt that he could take them if it came to a fight.

But they were Eren’s friends. One was his sibling. Levi couldn’t get into a fight with them if he wanted Eren to stay. He snarled internally. It seemed like he’d have to get along with them.

“What are you guys doing here, though?” Eren asked, completely unaware of Levi’s inner monologue.

“We were looking for you, idiot!” Armin growled, flicking one of Eren’s ear fins.

“Ow!” He yelped as Armin continued.

“We followed your scent to the deep water and lost you, so we’ve been wandering around.” Suddenly he blushed and looked away as though he were embarrassed. “We got a bit sidetracked a few days ago. Uh, we have mates now.” Eren froze for a moment before looking at each of their face and giggling.

“Oh my gosh I’m so happy for you!” He squealed. Armin made a similar sound and they launched back into each other’s arms, dragging Mikasa in with them.

“Now we just need to get you a mate.” Armin teased. Eren gasped and pulled out of his embrace with a petulant frown.

“Armin I will kill you.” He threatened. Armin just laughed again and began dragging him away.

“Come on! You have to meet our mates!” He announced. Eren glanced back at Levi and gestured for him to come as well.

“Come on, Levi. Let’s go!” Eren shouted back to him. He smiled a bit ruefully but followed them anyway. It didn’t slip his noticed that the other dominant hung back enough to swim next to him instead of with the others.

“You got your mating scent on him.” Mikasa said, her voice low and vaguely annoyed. Levi’s eyes hardened.

“So what if I did?” He replied, voice equally low.

“If you plan on bonding him you’d better do it. I’ll kill you if you toy with him.”

“He’s not interested in me like that.” Levi told her. Mikasa raised an eyebrow.

“Then why do you stink of his mating scent? I’m his sister and I’m telling you he wants to bond with you. So hurry up and tell him you want to or he’ll leave like he left us.” She advised darkly before snapping her tail to catch up with the others. 

Levi trailed behind and thought about what she said. If it was true that Levi hadn’t imagined Eren’s enthusiasm for his company then maybe…maybe they had a chance after all.


	10. Races and Promises

“What have you been doing? Where have you been?” Armin asked Eren excitedly. The questions and answers flew back and forth between the three effortlessly. It almost made Levi jealous of their easy interaction. Almost.

“Levi.” The word brought him out of his thoughts and he resisted the urge to smile at Eren, who looked very happy to see Levi still following them. “Come on, slowpoke! Keep up.” Eren called playfully. 

“I could outswim all of you any day.” Levi quipped. The tropicals all stopped and turned to look at him in one eerily synchronized movement. They were all smirking with varying levels of competitiveness and Levi sudden felt that he’d made a very bad choice of words.

“Oh really? You think you could outswim us?” Mikasa asked, a slow predatory grin spreading on her face.

“We may not be as strong as you but we’re wickedly fast.” Armin agreed, almost seeming like he was trying to warn Levi off. The cold-water gave him an appreciative nod but didn’t take back his challenge.

“I absolutely think I could beat you. My tail is longer, sleeker, and more muscular than any of yours. No offense.” He said with a slightly tolerant smile. Did they really think they could beat him?

“Let’s race!” Armin suggested, eyes lighting up at the idea of the game. Eren nodded eagerly. He had missed his friends for over two months and he wasn’t about to miss out on a chance to play with them, even if it meant beating his mate. Eren froze for a second, which none of the others noticed. When had he started thinking of Levi as his mate?

“Alright, let’s do it.” Levi agreed amiably. His competitive side was coming out.

“Okay, ready…set…go!” Mikasa shouted before tearing off into the water. Eren sure hoped his friends knew where they were going because the three all darted alongside each other, vying for the lead. They giggled and playfully swirled around each other, spiraling in the water beautifully.

Levi realized that he’d made a mistake almost as soon as the little race had begun. They were as quick as Armin had promised and stunning in the way they made it seem so effortless. Levi lost ground at the very beginning because he hesitated, but he launched after them with zeal and found that he enjoyed chasing the colorful mers.

“Can’t keep up?” Mikasa called back. He knew it was nonchalant but he could hear the sharp edge of a dominant competing with another. Levi rose to the challenge, his tail whipping up and down in the water and leaving a wide stream of bubbles in his wake. His caudal wasn’t as long or as beautiful as the ones in front of him, but it was built for efficiency. He slowly began closing the distance and Mikasa threw him a sharp grin over her shoulder before throwing her tail to the side, shooting her off to the left. The other tropical mers followed her tight turn with ease but it took Levi an extra couple of moments. He was NOT built for sharp turns.

Giggles drifted back to Levi and he smirked. Despite losing, he was having fun. Eren seemed to be lagging slightly. Levi pondered this for a moment before realizing that it was Eren’s tail. It still wasn’t entirely healed. Levi frowned. What if Eren hurt himself even more by pushing himself? He wouldn’t take away from Eren’s fun, though, so how about a different game?

“Eren.” Levi called before diving for the dark ocean floor. He watched from below as Eren turned to look for him and furrowed his brow in confusion. Levi slowly and silently began to swim back upwards, just beneath Eren.

“Levi? Where are you?” Eren asked, turning in place to look for the dominant he’d so recently begun to think of as his own. He suddenly squealed when strong arms wrapped around him from below and a dark, sensuous chuckle filled his ear.

“Levi!” Eren gasped, totally scandalized.

“Sorry, I couldn’t resist.” Levi laughed. “Don’t be mad.” Levi’s black tail lazily wrapped around Eren’s own green one and Eren tried to pout despite the smile tugging at his lips.

“Maybe I’ll forgive you.”

“If..?” Levi asked, picking up on the tone that the smaller man had used.

“If you kiss me.” Eren said. His voice was suddenly hesitant and he tensed slightly in Levi’s arms, almost as though he thought Levi was going to push him away.

“Is that all?” Levi murmured. He leaned forward slightly and kissed Eren lightly, just below his ear fin. Eren shuddered and he tipped his head to the side unconsciously.

“If this is all it takes to make you happy…” Levi whispered as he continued spreading kisses along Eren’s jaw and neck. “…then it will be very easy to win arguments.”

“How do you know I’ll be around long enough to argue with?” Eren asked, sounding entirely too out of breath for his own liking.

“You’d miss me if you left.” Levi responded confidently. He turned Eren so that they were facing each other and continued with his endless kisses, making Eren groan.

“Levi, you’re going to be the death of me.” The submissive moaned.

“And if you don’t stop making those sounds I’m going to bond you right here.”

“Who said I’d object?” Eren murmured. Levi opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by the others calling for them. Levi sighed. He was getting damn tired of being interrupted.

“We’d better go.” Eren said, making no move to actually do as he suggested.

“Come on, we can finish this later.” Levi said as he untangled himself and began pulling Eren back towards the others.

“Is that a promise?” Eren asked huskily.

“You can bet your scales it is.”


	11. Trust and Decorations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys give me life, especially those who comment on almost every chapter of mine. It's super cool to hear back from you guys and get ideas on things to include in the coming chapters.
> 
> As always, prompts are awesome.

“Mika!” Was the only warning before Eren’s sister was suddenly barreled into and knocked off course.

“Annie!” Mikasa cried with just as much enthusiasm. The two women laughed and embraced before pulling apart, still holding hands, to address the group.

“Annie, this is my brother Eren and this is Levi. He’s a dominant that lives nearby.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” Annie said sincerely.

“You too.” Eren replied.

“Erwin, are you here?” Armin called experimentally. Levi gave a small smile when his friend drifted out of a small rock outcropping. They were much more reserved in their affections and introductions were passed around once more. Erwin smiled when Eren was introduced and Levi was immediately suspicious.

“Eren, huh? So you’re the one Hange’s being going on about. She seems to think that the two of you will be bonded by the time she gets back.” Levi snorted.

“She should learn to mind her own business.” Levi said in a slightly scolding manner. “What would it matter to her if we bonded?”

“Well, getting laid might make you lose the perpetual scowl.” Erwin said, a smile tucked into the corner of his mouth.

“Don’t make me destroy you in front of your mate.” Levi said, his tone dark. Erwin knew he was joking and laughed, swimming over to clap him on the shoulder.

“I’m glad you’re here. I could use all the help I can get, honestly. The blue-tails are getting bolder. A few dipped into my territory and I had to run them off.”

“Do you have any solid numbers?” Levi asked. His face was serious and whatever lingering playfulness he may have felt disappeared.

“At least fifteen, but that’s being conservative. There are most likely more.”

“How many allies do we have?”

“Including those present and Hange? Eleven for sure, but Hange is talking to more. There are a few inside if you’d like to talk with them.” Erwin offered.

“Yes, I need to see what we’re working with here.” Levi said with a sharp nod.

“Eren, while they’re doing that you should come with us.” Armin said. Eren looked at his friend and sister, curious, but pliant. 

“Alright, what are we doing?” He asked as he followed the other tropical mers to the surface. It had been so long since he’d been to the surface that he was almost hesitant to breach, but he did. The others pulled themselves up onto the top of Erwin’s home, which didn’t come above the water but came close enough to give them a place to rest and bask in the sun.

“We have something for you.” Mikasa said, her voice serious but gentle. She stretched out an arm and pulled something out of the water. It was a slightly small seaweed bag. Eren raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t understand.” He admitted. Armin grinned, opened the bag, and showed Eren the inside. He gasped and looked at the others.

“You kept it?” Eren asked, his voice hoarse with emotion.

“All of it. Ours is all in there, too. I didn’t feel right wearing it when you couldn’t.” Armin told him with a nod.

“We couldn’t let any of it go. Besides, don’t you think it’s time you had it again?” Mikasa asked. Eren nodded firmly.

“Poseidon, yes.”

~~~~~

It seemed like Levi had spent hours talking to the mers that had shown up, asking them questions and answering the ones he could answer. Hange hadn’t returned yet, but there’d been the promise of more mers to help. Levi knew that they would need more if they were going to win and not get completely wiped out. 

Levi suddenly noticed that it had gotten very quiet. All conversations stopped at the same time and Levi turned, a bit irritated that something was obviously getting in the ay of their preparations.

“What are you guys..?” Levi trailed off when he saw what the others had already noticed. The three tropical mers were back, each adorned with jewelry that they hadn’t been wearing before. It was gorgeous.

Eren was wearing a string of pearls around his waist, bands of colorful coral around his upper arms, a fish bone necklace, and four fish scales that were bent almost double around the edge of his left ear, glinting when his head moved.

It was very distracting.

“Pay attention.” Levi snapped to the mer he had been talking to before the interruption. “Do you know anyone that would be willing to come?”

“Uh…maybe.” The woman replied, clearly still distracted by the rare tropical.

“Focus. Where do they live?”

“West. He’s been in lots of fights and his mate was killed by a blue-tail. He’ll probably come.”

“Good, go get him.” Levi growled. The woman glared at him reproachfully but left, careful to brush arms with Eren as she swam out of the cave. Levi growled again, a low dangerous noise as the conversation began to pick up again amongst the other mers.

“Levi, do you have a moment?” Another mer asked. A mated submissive, his scent told Levi.

“What do you want?” Levi asked not-uninvitingly.

“I just…I want to help.” The submissive said determinedly. “My mate is over there talking to Erwin and from what I’ve heard this is some pretty nasty business.” He said after gesturing to a muscular woman that was obviously a little older than Levi and riddled with scars.

“Yes, this is a nasty business. Submissives don’t have a place in a fight, however. You’ll only get in the way and probably get yourself killed.” Levi said in the gentlest tone he could muster. The submissive before him swelled.

“My name is Marco. I’m mated to Petra, and whether you like it or not I’m going to be fighting with you. I came to ask for advice but if you don’t want to give it to me I will go without it.” Levi raised an eyebrow at the sudden onslaught of information and the submissive, Marco, continued. “I figured that if I’m going to die because you didn’t help me, you’d like to know the name of the person you killed.” Levi scowled darkly.

“You’re so dramatic.” He sighed. Marco simply looked at him until he sighed again and spoke. “Fine. Let me see your claws.” Marco obligingly held out his hands and Levi examined them, running the pads of his fingers along the sides of the short claws and looking at the calluses Marco had.

“Hm. Your claws are a good shape, nice points, but they’re small. You’re not very big but you’re not small enough to use agility to your advantage. You’ll need to pair up with someone bigger and help them. If they get into a tight spot you could really help.” Levi saw Marco’s eyes drift to Petra and he rolled his eyes.

“Don’t pair up with her. It will distract both of you and leave you vulnerable.” Levi advised. Marco nodded firmly.

“Right, right. We’ve got some friends around here. I’ll go with one of them. I’ll stick with them and help when they need me.” Marco said, repeating what Levi had told him.

“Be careful and don’t die. If not for yourself, think about how badly it would fuck up your mate.” Levi told him in parting. Marco shot him a grin over his shoulder as he turned to swim away.

“You, too. Be careful, don’t die, don’t fuck up your mate.” Marco said with a grin. Levi opened his mouth to retort but the submissive was gone, off to speak with Petra. Speaking of submissives...there he was. Levi saw Eren across the way, sitting in the sand with Armin as they spoke quietly and watched the mingling mers. Mikasa was speaking with another dominant and kept playing with a piece of jewelry that had been wound in her hair. Levi noticed that Annie couldn’t stop looking at her. Levi also noticed that Erwin was watching Armin whenever he could.

“Levi, what did you say to Marco?” A voice asked him in a way that wasn’t so much accusatory as concerned. Levi turned to face the woman Marco had pointed out, Petra.

“He told me he was going to fight and I gave him some advice. That’s all.” Levi explained. Petra bit her lip and her eyes narrowed in thought.

“This can’t end well.” She murmured. “Letting a submissive fight blue-tails? This is going to go straight to Jones’s locker.”

“You have to trust him to protect himself.” Levi told her, eyes sliding to Eren as he smiled at something Armin had said.

“You have a point. As his dominant, I have to trust him to be okay. That doesn’t make it any easier.” Petra said.

“You’re right. It doesn’t.” Levi agreed.


	12. Threat and Confession

After a while Hange came back with three new mers and Eren trailed off in the middle of whatever he was saying to Armin.

“Eren? Are you okay?” Armin asked. Eren’s hand reached for his instinctually and Armin took it willingly.

“That’s the one that tried to mate me.” Eren said darkly, his eyes on a female with barely healing wounds on her stomach, sides, and arms.

“The one that hurt you?” Armin asked, his voice suddenly low so no one else could hear. Eren nodded subtly and tensed when she looked at him. Changing course, she began to swim over to the two and Armin let out a warning hiss. She held up her hands in a placating way.

“I’m not here to start anything.” She told them. “I just wanted to apologize. I shouldn’t have been so forceful the first time we met.” She slowly moved a little bit closer. Armin flared his fins and Eren twisted his tail so that his stomach was against the sand and protected. The mer kept moving forward, closer to the pair.

“I’d like to start again, if that’s okay.” She said. Eren forced blood underneath all of his scales and they bled into a brilliant scarlet color while his newly-red fins spread out as far as they could in a full threat display. He hissed as loudly as he could and his ear fins shook. The mer certainly looked startled as her eyes widened and she quickly backed up several feet.

“What the fuck?” She almost shouted in her alarm.

“Stay away from him or Poseidon help me, you’ll get worse than what I did to you last time. I’ll tear out your scales and shove them down your fucking throat, shark.” Levi said, suddenly behind her. His voice was deep and even, maintaining his composure even with the rage that boiled just beneath his skin. 

Levi wanted to check on Eren, to make sure he was okay, but if he took his eyes off of the dominant in front of him it would be seen as a concession. He bared his teeth and air hissed out from between his teeth while a deep growling sound came from the back of his throat. The woman snapped her own teeth in return but after a tense moment looked away, her eyes flitting to the side but not down. That would have been giving him dominance over her. She turned and swam away to join some other dominants, who had been tensely silent as they watched the spectacle. It was a pathetic attempt to save face.

Levi turned to Eren to ask if he was okay, only to be pulled by his wrist. He could have resisted it easily but shock let him get tugged into Eren. Eren let go and Levi noticed that his scales were still red and his fins were still flared in a dramatic threat display, but he didn’t seem hurt at all. Levi was so caught up in checking the smaller male that it took him a moment to realize Eren was growling and rubbing his throat against whatever part of Levi he could reach. Levi froze at the odd attention and his eyes flicked to Armin in slight concern.

Armin wasn’t exactly paying attention, however, as he was quickly swimming over to his own mate to copy the actions of Eren. Levi vaguely realized that every mated couple was around their partner and some were watching the strange action of the tropical submissives with wary eyes.

“Erwin.” Levi hissed. “What are they doing?” His friend looked up at him with an expression that said this wasn’t the first time this had happened to him, even as his blonde submissive rubbed his throat against Erwin’s shoulder.

“Scenting. I’d, uh, rather explain it to you later. But you might want to get him out of here.” Erwin advised with a head tilt toward Eren. Eren growled and rubbed his hands up and down Levi’s arms.

Whatever was happening, Levi needed to get Eren away from the other dominants. He was still technically unmated and it set Levi’s nerves on edge.

“I’ll be back.” Levi rumbled before taking Eren’s hand and dragging him out from the shallow cave underneath the stone outcropping. 

Eren was practically glued to him as they swam. Several minutes later Levi finally decided they were far enough away and stopped, settling into the sand and letting Eren stay in his lap.

“Eren.” Levi said. Eren growled at his name on Levi’s tongue and experimentally sniffed where Levi’s shoulder and neck met. He smelled like both of them.

“Eren.” Levi repeated, a bit impatiently that time.

“What?” Came the response. Eren’s voice was low and slightly rough. It was strangely sensual to Levi.

“What are you doing?” Levi asked. Eren’s scales were slowly returning to normal and his fins, while still stiff, were going down.

At the question Eren flushed, clearly embarrassed.

“Ah, it’s…uh…it’s called scenting.” Eren told him reluctantly. He reached up and smoothed back his ear fins in an attempt to calm himself down. Levi raised an eyebrow, clearly expecting more of an explanation.

“Do you guys not do that?” Eren asked, looking away from Levi.

“Obviously not, brat, otherwise I wouldn’t be asking about it.” Levi said, irritated.

“Well, it’s…uh…”

“Spit it out.”

“It’showwemarkourmates.” Eren said in one great big rush. Levi narrowed his eyes.

“So it’s a sort of territory thing. She got close to you and then threatened me so you were making sure it was clear that we’re mated.” Levi said with realization. “Why didn’t you just say that in the first place?” Eren gaped at him, mouth slightly open and eyes wide.

“But...but we’re not mated!” He protested with a deep blush.

“We might as well be.” Levi countered. “I want to bond with you. I want you to be mine and I want to be yours. I want you to stay with me instead of leaving. I want to sleep with you every night, just like we did last night. I want you to be able to scent me, or whatever you call it, whenever you want to. I want to be your mate, Eren.” 

The submissive just stared at Levi for a moment, unsure of what to say. Eren had thought that what Levi wanted was just a lust-fueled one-night stand. Hardly a life-time commitment to the other.

“Levi..I…”

“Eren. I want to bond with you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not going to warn you what's coming up. Could be angst if Eren says no, could be fluff if he says yes. 
> 
> Who knows? I do. I know.


	13. Tension and Interruptions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Smut warning. 
> 
> You sweet sickos finally get what you wanted all along.

“I’m not very patient.” Levi said, amusement dripping from his voice as Eren stared at him blankly from his seat on Levi’s lap.

“I don’t like being teased.” Eren murmured, not meeting Levi’s eyes.

“I’m not teasing you, and I’d really appreciate and answer.” Levi told him honestly.

“I…I mean you’re a cold-water…and we haven’t...and…and yes. Yes, I’ll bond with you.” Eren said, his voice hesitant at first but certain and mildly surprised at the end. Levi grinned triumphantly.

“Good.” He grabbed Eren’s hips and whirled them so that Levi was on top and Eren was lying on his back in the sand. Eren gave him a shy smile as his own hands drifted up Levi’s abdomen. He ran his fingers over the defined muscles there and Levi growled possessively at the action. He jerked his hips against Eren’s and Eren gasped at the drag and friction against the slit in his scales.

“Tell me if you want to stop.” Levi muttered.

“If you stop I’ll kill you.” Eren replied and the way he sounded so breathless and so far gone sent a pulse of blood straight to Levi’s groin.

Levi bit Eren’s shoulder lightly, testing, before swiping his tongue across the skin there. Eren moaned in response and Levi felt his slit open, leaving his cock free. A flood of musky dominant scent bubbled out of the scent glands on his throat and Eren bucked up into him, desperate for friction as his own slit opened.

“Levi I need you.” He moaned. Levi growled again and gripped Eren’s member tightly as he rubbed the head of his dick against the entrance just below Eren’s cock. Levi ran one hand up Eren’s taut stomach before rubbing a thumb over his hardened nipple teasingly.

“Levi.” Eren practically whined. The tips of his claws were digging into the small scales of Levi’s back in a way that wasn’t at all unpleasant. Unable to hold back anymore, Levi pushed his way inside Eren and felt the submissive grind up into him, desperate for more.

“Hold still.” Levi demanded. If Eren moved he was afraid he’d be too rough with him. Because Poseidon, he felt good and Levi wanted to fuck him into the ground. 

Levi rhythmically tugged on Eren’s dick as he fucked him, hips grinding into the moaning brunet beneath him. He kissed Eren deeply and bit his bottom lip when Levi heard Eren moan with need.

“Fuck, Eren. You’re so fucking good.” Levi growled. He pushed himself deeper into the warm, wet entrance. He angled his hips upwards slightly and was rewarded with a gasp the next time he thrust into Eren. Eren’s hands tightened on Levi and one of his nails bit into the flesh between two scales.

“Fuck, do that again.” Eren whimpered, as though his reaction hadn’t been enough for Levi to realize he liked it. Levi complied, thrusting into the same spot over and over again until Eren was a moaning mess, arching up into Levi’s touch. Levi bit Eren several more times before feeling himself get close to coming.

“Eren, fuck.” Was the only warning given before he gave one more jerk into the submissive and buried his teeth in Eren’s shoulder as he spilled his seed inside his mate. His mate. His.

Levi continued to jack off Eren as he rode out his own orgasm before Eren let out a strangled version of Levi’s name as he came against their stomachs.

They came down from their high together and Levi pulled out of Eren, licking at the blood flowing from his new wound apologetically. It was a long several minutes before either of them could even think to speak, and it was Eren that broke the silence.

“You bit me.”

“Sorry. Did it hurt?” Levi asked, a bit hesitant of the answer.

“A bit, but not much. I kind of like it. It was sexy.” Eren admitted, a blush rising on his cheeks.

“It’s how we mark our mates. It shows everyone that they belong to us.”

“We are much less violent.” Eren murmured as he lazily wrapped his tail around Levi’s. Levi teasingly growled and bit Eren again, much more lightly, as he rolled them onto their sides.

“I’m tired.” Eren murmured after a few more moments of peaceful silence.

“Go to sleep, then.” Levi told him as he turned the smaller man around in his arms, their tails still twisted around one another familiarly. Eren only gave a sleepy little nod before falling silent again.

Levi lay like that for a while, stroking Eren’s hair and giving him loving kisses before he fell asleep with his arms still around his mate.

~~~~~

Levi woke to the sound of singing. It was some hauntingly beautiful melody he’d never heard before sung in a low, captivating tone.

“Can you hear the ocean’s call?  
Feel her beckon one and all.   
Mighty waters draw me to you.  
Can you sense it, wonderfully new?  
Stronger than a storm’s eye,  
My feelings for you, forever mine.” There was a breath, as though preparing to sing something else, but then Eren spoke instead.

“Did I wake you?”

“Yes.”

“Sorry.” Eren murmured, moving to sit up. Levi tightened his hold to prevent it and pulled Eren tighter against him. He didn’t want Eren to leave his arms just yet.

“Don’t be. I love your voice. What were you singing?”

“Ah, it’s part of what we were…what I was supposed to do before I bonded with you.” At that Levi pulled away slightly and sat up just enough that he could look down at Eren’s face, a knot forming between his eyebrows.

“What?” Eren looked up at him and gave a shy smile as he let his tail brush against Levi’s in a slow rhythm.

“Well, when tropical mers mate we have to court each other first. Kind of proving that you’re worthy of being their mate. You exchange a piece of jewelry and sing to them. You know how big of a deal the jewelry is, and singing is a big part of our lives as well.”

“You sang when you and your friends got together.” Levi said, putting it together in his head.

“Mhm, my sister and Armin sang back.” Eren confirmed with a nod. “We can tell who it is based on their voice and different songs mean different things. There’s one specifically for mates and normally they would sing it together before the bonding. But you’re a cold-water. You don’t wear jewelry and you don’t sing.” Eren said, shrugging nonchalantly.

“You’re right, we don’t do any of that. We bite each other and that shows everyone that we’re taken. Anything else is just excessive.” Levi hummed, kissing Eren’s jaw between every few words.

“Is that a big deal?” Eren asked curiously, turning in Levi’s arms to face him. Levi shrugged. He didn’t want to say yes because he didn’t know if Eren would feel bad about it or not.

“Sit up.” Eren demanded. Levi raised an eyebrow but did as he was told. Eren sat up as well and scooted so that he was facing Levi, a serious look on his face. He looked like he was concentrating very hard on something.

“Eren, what are you doing?” Levi asked him, a bit exasperated.

“Hush, I’m trying to not to freak out.”

“Freak out? About what?” Levi asked, brow furrowing. Eren shot him an impatient look and Levi returned it. Eren leaned forward slightly and kissed Levi’s shoulder. The dominant was about to ask about the action but then flinched as he felt a sharp pain where the kiss had just been.

“Ow, shit.” Levi hissed.

“Sorry.” Came the whispered response before Levi felt more kisses along the bite.

“You didn’t have to do that.” Levi told him, returning kisses wherever he could reach and lazily flicking his tail back and forth against Eren’s.

“I know, but I wanted to. We can’t court the way I was raised to because it’s not who you are, but I could do this for you.” Levi hummed his appreciation and tipped Eren’s chin up slightly so they could kiss. Levi grabbed Eren’s hips and dragged him back onto his lap. Eren giggled into the kiss and Levi growled playfully.

“I’m trying to kiss you.” Levi said.

“You’re doing a very wonderful job of it, too.” Eren laughed before Levi captured his lips again. One of his hands ghosted over Eren’s chest, barely applying pressure to one of his nipples. In response the submissive tangled one hand into Levi’s hair and pulled him deeper into the kiss. Levi bit his bottom lip lightly and Eren opened his mouth, letting their tongues meet and slide against each other.

Levi was just about to push Eren back into the sand when he heard a feminine giggle that definitely did not belong to Eren. Levi growled and tilted his head to look back at Hange, who had two very startled mers behind her.

“I told Erwin you’d be bonded by the time I came back.” She laughed.

“You already came back and we weren’t bonded then, so you were technically wrong.” Levi said. Eren wasn’t as quick to gather his sense and seemed a little dazed. Hange flapped a hand dismissively.

“You’re still mated, I win. Erwin owes me dinner."


	14. Questions and Fear

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cause there's not enough drama.

The mers behind Hange began to look at each other in confusion and Levi scowled.

"You bet on if I'd bond with Eren or not" He said skeptically.

"No, of course not." Hange scoffed. "We bet on WHEN you would bond. Erwin said you wouldn't until after you went back home. I said that having all these other dominants around would make you do it much faster than that." Eren, his brain finally catching up with the situation, groaned and pressed his face into Levi's shoulder.

"Aw, he's embarrassed!" Hange cackled. One of Levi's hands absently rubbed Eren's back as he looked at Hange with dry amusement.

"Stop teasing my mate." Levi said.

"I will, I will, but first I need you to take these lovely mers to Erwin. I want to talk with Eren for a moment." Levi raised and eyebrow. 

"About what, exactly?" He's known Hange for a long time and her sudden desire to speak with Eren couldn't lead to anything good. 

"Girl stuff."

"He's not a girl."

"Submissive stuff."

"You're a dominant." Hange huffed in her exasperation and rolled her eyes before looking at Eren.

"You'll talk with me, right?" Eren shrugged.

"Sure." He said before looking at Levi. "It can't take that long. I'll go back to Erwin's place when we're done. Promise." Levi sighed, sensing a a loosing argument, and fingered Eren's bone necklace as he spoke.

"Don't leave me alone for too long." He muttered, tone dark with implications. Eren immediately flushed. 

"Aw, you two are so cute!" Hange sighed happily. Levi shot her a glare and kissed Eren on his cheek before shifting them so that he could swim up to the new mers.

"Let's go." He snapped, usual grumpy attitude back. Their eyes widened and they immediately swam after him. Even after such a brief meeting they new better than to ignore him or keep him waiting.

Eren and Hange watched them for a moment before the woman turned and grinned.

"I want to know everything."

"About what?"

"You! You and Levi, how it works between you, how you feel about all of this. I want to know everything."

"Well the bonding was a little...different than I expected." Eren began.

"Was he not as big as you hoped?" Hange asked, sounding a bit disappointed.

"No, that's not it." Eren said, blushing again. "It was just really...sudden. You know, tropicals normally make this big deal out of it. The mates have to go to the other family and ask permission and then they spend an entire day apart. It's supposed to give you more time to think about your mate and make sure you're ready to bond." Eren took a moment before looking up at the rippling surface of the ocean before continuing.

"The actual bonding is very private, though. Just before, when you're alone, you exchange jewellery with each other. Preferably a piece you've worn for a very long time, to show that you hope your mate will be with you for a long time, too. There's also this song that you're supposed to sing together. Kind of like a love song. Then you bond and stay together for two days, to make up for the time spent apart, and then go back home as mates."

"Wow. What if you wanted to stay out longer or what if you couldn't stay away that long for some reason?" She asked. She sounded really interested in what Eren was telling her and settled down to sit in the sand in front of him.

"You can stay away however long you want, and it's not really a requirement to actually leave, it's just traditional." Eren told her. 

"This song you spoke of, is that traditional too? Is it the same song for everyone or do couples create their own?"

"It is traditional, but I've never met anyone that didn't do it. It's the same song for everyone and sometimes mers will just start singing it when they're together. It's a sort of way to remind others that you're in love and there's only one mer that can sing it with you."

"Did you tell Levi about all this?" Hange asked, eyes glinting with mischievousness.

"I told him about the song, but not as much as I told you. You ask more questions." He added with a laugh. 

"Of course I do. Grumpy Scales isn't interested in the things that I am. So tell me about your jewellery." She demanded, switching topics easily. "Do they have meaning or are they just for decoration?"

"Well, obviously the one we get from our mate means we're bonded, but other than that it's just too look pretty. In coral reefs there are a lot of sharks and predators. If we looks flashy and give a threat display we can be very intimidating."

"Wait, wait, you guys can give threat displays?" Hange asked excitedly. 

"Ah, I suppose you missed it earlier. Here, I'll show you." Eren took a breath and forced the blood under his scales again, purposefully flaring his fins and letting out a hiss. Hange clapped excitedly and squealed as Eren relaxed again and his scales faded back to green. 

"Oh my gosh it's so much prettier than ours!"

"It's not supposed to be pretty." Eren grumbled. 

"It would certainly startle me if I didn't know you." Hange said consolingly. "But tell me more. What happens if you get pregnant? We give birth and the child instinctively leaves after a few months."

"Well normally we travel in pods, so the child stays with us for its whole life sometimes. But once we reach the age where we can mate the dominants start venturing out, going further and further from the pod until they find a mate. If they mate is from a different pod they have to decide which one to live with. It's sad, but good. If you mate in the pod too many times the blood goes bad."

Hange nodded her understanding and opened her mouth to respond, but never did. Her head turned slightly as her mouth closed again and she stared off into the water. 

"Eren, suppress your scent. Now." She said, voice low. Eren forced his scent glands to shut, preventing any new scent from coming out, and clamped a hand over each side of his neck for good measure.

"What is it?" He whispered.

"I smell something." 

They were silent and tense for several moments before Eren saw a lazy flash of blue and Hange hissed.

"Go! Get to the others, NOW!" She shouted, all thoughts of stealth gone. If she could see them, they could see her. And the submissive next to her.


	15. Wounds and Fear

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Violence and gore. If you don't want to read this chapter you can skip to the bottom and I'll leave a sum up there so you can read it and I don't ruin it for others.

The attack came too soon for Eren to get away. Hange was knocked sideways in the water as another woman tackled her. There were snarls and hisses as blood clouded the water.

“Hange!” Eren shouted. He didn’t have long to be worried about her, however, as he was almost immediately grabbed by the caudal and dragged to the left. Eren growled and reacted instantly, curing against his own tail to claw at the mer that was digging her claws into his tail.

“Fuck off!” He heard Hange yell from behind him. He didn’t have time to pay attention to her and tore at the mer holding him viciously. She hissed, let go, and lunged for him. Eren twisted out of the way as best he could but her claws sliced through his upper arm just below his coral armband. In response Eren swiped his claws through the water in-between them. She recoiled and snapped her teeth before circling around Eren, forcing him to twist in place if he wanted to keep an eye on her.

“Eren, watch it!” Hange yelled before he felt an intense pain on the same shoulder Levi had bitten just a few hours earlier. Eren screamed when the pain increased and claws were suddenly digging into his sides to hold him in place as the new mer’s jaws tore into him. Eren tried desperately to get his claws into some part of the mer attacking him but couldn’t. Then she let go and snarled, the sound of a new fight bubbling up behind him. The mer still in front of him pulled back her lips and bared her teeth before whirling around and disappearing into the dark water, blood trailing her. A second later the other bolted as well. 

Eren clutched his profusely bleeding shoulder and winced.

“Eren? Are you…oh no. That looks bad.” Hange said, looking at the wound. “We need to get out of here before they come back and before you lose any more blood.” Hange said, grabbing his arm and swimming as fast as she could. She worried her lip with her teeth. It was a LOT of blood.

~~~~~

Levi narrowed his eyes and tapped his thumb absently against the bite mark Eren had left on him. Whatever the mer in front of him was saying stopped and she raised an eyebrow.

“Are you even paying attention? I just told you I saw a blue-tail East of here.”

“Yes, I’m paying attention. I’m thinking, moron.” Levi really had been thinking about what she said, as distracted as he seemed. 

It could have been a single mer that the woman saw, but it also could be a sign that they were trying to flank and preparing to attack. If they were flanking Levi and Erwin would have to rethink their strategy. They’d been planning on setting two lines of defense with a few mers moving about as wildcards, but if they were coming from multiple sides that plan would fall apart.

“How far away did you say this was?” Levi asked her. He needed to get a grasp of the situation.

“Seven kilometers, maybe a little more.” She supplied easily.

“And you only saw one.”

“Yes. Knowing them, there could have been more out of sight but I only saw the one.” Suddenly a single word interrupted them.

“LEVI!” He heard someone scream. He heard someone FAMILIAR scream. The sound was filled with desperation and he’d never heard it from his friend before, instantly making him wary of what was happening.

“Hange?” He asked, turning and peering out into the water. He saw a quickly moving black tail, a pale woman, and a tan man she was supporting. He looked disturbingly limp. A knot formed between Levi’s brows before he realized what it meant and then he was gone. Erwin shouted something behind him but he wasn’t paying attention. He just had to get to Hange and Eren. Something was terribly wrong.

“What the fuck happened?” Levi practically shouted as he took Eren from Hange. He was bleeding so much. The blood clung to Levi’s skin and Levi’s hands shook with a mix of fear and helplessness. He didn’t know what to do. For once in his life he didn't have a sarcastic come back or a snide comment to give and fix the situation.

“We were attacked. By the blue-tails. He passed out on the way here.” Hange told him in one big rush. She seemed out of breath and exhausted.

“Why didn’t you get here faster? Oh Jones, ERWIN!” He shouted, realizing that he probably knew what to do. Levi had never seen a wound this bad. He could only hope that Erwin had, that he knew how to fix it.

The next several moments were terrifying for Levi. Suddenly people were everywhere. Mers were around them, churning the red water. Mers were touching his mate, checking the wound. His hurt mate. His hurt, unconscious mate. Levi snarled instinctively and lunged for them, determined to get them away, to get them off. He needed to protect Eren. Someone grabbed him around the waist and hauled him back. Levi snapped his teeth and tried to twist around in their arms but was held firmly in place.

“Stop this. You need them to look after him.” Erwin hissed in his ear. Levi knew in the back of his mind that Erwin was right, but his body was screaming for blood. For this to be someone’s fault. For him to tear them apart.

“His he okay?” Armin asked desperately. His tone set Levi on edge and he felt worry spike in place of anger. Was Eren going to be okay? Jones, what if he wasn’t? What if he wasn’t going to be okay? 

Levi felt sick.

Someone (Mikasa?) was shouting for seaweed and a rock. Levi watched two of her claws disappear into the deep wound and Eren woke with s blood-curdling scream. Levi saw red. Then he felt something hit him and saw nothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hange and Eren were attacked by blue-tails and Eren got hurt really badly. He passed out before Hange could reach the others and Levi FTFO, so someone knocked him out, too.


	16. Relief and Lies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A couple of people on tumblr have asked if it was okay to do fan art of this fic so I figured I'd make it clear on here. I am all about fan art! All about it! If you draw something I'd looove to see it. Just tag me or @ me on my main tumblr, Caitninja. 
> 
> That tumblr also accepts prompts if you don't want to leave one on here but have any ideas!

When Levi woke the first thing he felt was fear. How long had he been out? Where was Eren? Was Eren okay? 

Levi sat up and rubbed the back of his head, hissing in pain as he looked around. What the fuck was going on? He calmed almost instantly when he saw that Eren was only a few feet away, lying on a stone outcrop and looking much better than when Levi had last seen him. That was possibly thanks to the thick light green paste smeared over his wounded shoulder, covering the injury. Levi swam over to examine the still-sleeping mer and frowned when he noticed that the wound was over his mating mark. A deeply primal part of him demanded that he remark Eren but he pushed the thought away and moved to lift Eren’s head so he could sit down and let Eren’s head rest in his lap.

Levi shifted for a moment to get into a more comfortable position and then let one hand absently stroke Eren’s hair while he looked down at him.

Eren didn’t look as pale as he had been and the majority of the blood had been washed from his skin. Levi thumbed away a stray spot of crimson on Eren’s chest and felt his eyes burn.

This was his fault. He’d left Eren alone just after their bond and he’d known that there were blue-tails in the area. Why did he do that? Why did he leave his mate at all? He wasn’t there to protect him. He hadn’t even known about the attack until Hange brought Eren back. He’d always be grateful to Hange for protecting him as well she could and he only blamed himself for it not being enough.

Suddenly the water in front of Levi’s face was dotted with glittering gold spots and Levi angrily wiped at his eyes. He couldn’t allow himself to break down. He needed to take care of Eren until he woke up and he couldn’t do that if he wasn’t even holding himself together. 

Despite that conviction, the water was soon sparkling around them with Levi’s tears. Levi leaned his head back against the rock behind him and closed his eyes, his hand pausing in Eren’s hair. It was all his fault. Eren was hurt because of him. What kind of mate was he? They’d only been mated for a day and Levi had already failed.

“Was I crying?” An embarrassed voice asked. Levi’s eyes snapped open and he looked down to see Eren awake and looking at him as well. Levi felt more tears well up and Eren sat up in alarm, turning to look at his mate. “No, don’t cry! Are you okay? Are you hurt?” Eren asked, leaning forward and resting a hand against the side of Levi’s face.

“Am I okay?” Levi asked incredulously. “I’m not the one that just got torn open.” Eren smiled, flashing pearly teeth and Levi didn’t even know how badly he needed it until then.

“I was hardly torn open. It’s just a shoulder. Besides, now we match.” Eren said playfully, moving the hand that had been on Levi’s face to tap Levi’s own still-healing shoulder. Then his smile faltered ever so slightly. “It’s a shame it’s over your mating mark, though.” Levi’s eyes went to the ceiling. He couldn’t look at Eren.

“I’m sorry.” He said.

“Sorry?” Eren asked, confusion clear in his voice. “For what?” Levi laughed humorlessly.

“I shouldn’t have left. I got you hurt.” Levi said. His voice was tight and his throat threatened to close on him. He felt Eren scoot a bit closer and looked back down to see that he was moving into Levi’s lap and wrapping his arms around Levi’s waist, laying his head on his shoulder.

“Levi?”

“Hm?”

“It’s okay.”

“The fuck it is.” Levi snorted, but Eren continued like Levi hadn’t even spoken.

“I got hurt, but I got hurt before I met you too. My new scales are still coming in. This isn’t the first time this has happened and I doubt it’ll be the last. From what I’ve been told this sort of thing is kind of to be expected from blue-tails. You can’t blame yourself for that.”

“I can blame myself for leaving you. I can blame myself for not being there to protect you. I can blame myself for being potentially the worst mate ever.” Eren sighed and pulled away slightly, enough to look at Levi seriously.

“Levi, I have something to tell you.” Eren said, tone even.

“Alright.” Levi said a bit warily.

“I love you.” It was the first time either of them had said the words and for a moment Levi couldn’t speak. He pulled Eren closer and twisted his tail to wrap around Eren’s as he buried his face in Eren’s hair.

“I love you, too.” Levi murmured. Eren’s arms tightened around him and when he spoke Levi could tell he was smiling.

“That’s how I know you didn’t know this was going to happen and how I know this isn’t your fault.” Levi sighed and pulled away to look at Eren’s triumphant grin.

“I’m not going to win this, am I?”

“Nope.” Eren said, popping the ‘p’. “So I refuse to let you blame yourself. It’s not allowed.” Levi tilted his head slightly and lifted one hand to hold Eren’s chin, looking at him thoughtfully.

“Am I allowed to kiss you?” Levi questioned playfully.

“I think I might be mad if you don’t.” Eren replied with a small smile. Levi smirked and leaned forward, pressing their lips together gently. Eren was having none of that and tangled one hand in Levi’s hair, pulling him deeper into it.

“Eren.” Levi murmured against his lips.

“Yes?” Eren replied, allowing them to break apart for a moment.

“We should be careful. I don’t want to open your wounds again.” Levi told him. His hands drifted down to Eren’s hips and squeezed lightly.

“Do you not know?” Eren asked, looking at Levi curiously.

“Not know what?”

“Tropical mers can heal themselves. The happier we are the faster we heal. So you should probably keep kissing me.”

“Uh huh, sure.” Levi said with a smirk.

“Are you doubting your own mate?” Eren asked, feigning anger. Levi quirked an eyebrow and Eren burst out laughing, breaking his fake indignation. Levi rolled his eyes and kissed Eren again. The tropical shifted slightly so he could face Levi more directly and returned the kiss eagerly, his free hand pressing on Levi’s chest. Eren’s mouth opened and Levi took quick advantage, licking Eren’s bottom lip and making the bright mer moan into the kiss. Eren nipped Levi in retaliation and Levi growled. Eren giggled and Levi kissed him again. He let one hand trail over Eren’s chest and pinched one of his nipples lightly, causing it to pebble. Eren moaned and their tongues met almost desperately.

They went on like that for several minutes before pulling apart and simply holding each other as they tried to calm down. Finally Levi spoke.

“All that about being happy helping you..?” He asked, trailing off.

“Complete crap. But it got you to kiss me and I AM very happy.” Levi laughed and flicked his shoulder in retaliation.

“You brat.” He said affectionately.

“Ah, you love me.”

“Damn right I do.”


	17. Expectation and Preparation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are winding up and Eren might be too hurt to fight...but do you think that's going to stop him?

Levi and Eren lay together for several hours. They drifted in and out of sleep in each other’s arms, time passed with lazy kisses and half-hearted teasing while their tails brushed together and wound around the other.

“Levi?” Eren said, breaking the easy silence.

“Hm?” Came the reply.

“I’m going to go get something to eat.” That got Levi’s attention. The dominant pulled away slightly and propped his head up so he could look down at his mate, brows drawn together.

“I don’t want you out there on your own.”

“Come with me, then. You have to be hungry.” Eren replied with a small smile, sitting up enough to pepper kisses along Levi’s jaw and throat.

“Mmm, right now all I want is you.” Levi told him honestly. Levi leaned down and captured Eren’s lips in a slow kiss. Eren moaned into it and Levi grinned.

“Our bonding was awfully quick for my taste. If you keep making noises like that I’ll be forced to mate you again.”

“Well don’t sound so put off by it.” Eren laughed.

“Oh trust me, if we didn’t need to eat I’d be fucking you into the ground right now.” Eren shuddered happily and Levi gave a sly, calculated grin. “Does my sweet little submissive like it when I talk dirty like that?” Levi whispered darkly. Eren flushed.

“I never said that.” Eren told him, trying to be a stern as he possibly could be while his sexy mate was hovering over him with a look on his face that told Eren he’d be willing to devour him given half a chance.

“You didn’t.” Levi agreed, running one of his claws along the string of pearls around Eren’s waist. “So I guess it wouldn’t matter if I kept doing it.” Eren flicked him and smirked.

“After food. I’m hungry and while you are extremely delicious I can’t survive just on you.” Levi smiled and nipped Eren’s lower lip.

“Let’s go, then. I want to get you back here so that I see how many times I can make you scream.” Levi’s blunt words made Eren blush bright red.

“O-okay.” Eren stuttered out. Levi gave a self-satisfied grin and took Eren’s hand before swimming out of the tiny cave.

They managed to avoid seeing anyone as they caught a few fish and they ate quickly. Levi made several comments about eating something else, which Eren astutely ignored, and then Levi sighed.

“I need to speak with Erwin. I really don’t want you on your own, though.” He admitted. Eren shrugged.

“I’ll just stay with you. I…I don’t want to be alone.” Eren said, looking away slightly. Levi frowned and grabbed his chin, turning his head so he had to look at Levi.

“Are you okay?” He asked. Eren sighed and let one had touch Levi’s face.

“Yea, I’m fine. I’m just…I get hurt a lot and I mean…I’m sorry.” Now Levi was really confused.

“Why are you sorry?”

“I just keep getting hurt. I’m kind of afraid, honestly.” Levi immediately softened and he gave the faintest of smiles.

“That’s okay. I’m not leaving you again. We’re going to finish this thing with the blue-tails, I’m going to murder every single one of them, and we’re going to go home.”

“Can we just skip to that last part?” Eren asked with a chuckle.

“Unfortunately, no. But it’ll be over soon. Come on, let’s go talk to Erwin so we can go back to the cave.” Levi said. Eren nodded and they swam back to Erwin’s outcropping together. 

Levi tugged Eren over to see Erwin and the blonde sent away the submissive he had been talking to.

“I see you two are feeling better.” Erwin hedged cautiously.

“Nothing sleep can’t fix.” Levi replied. Eren couldn’t help but feel a bit happy at the fact that Levi didn’t seem as relaxed with Erwin as he was with Eren. “We need to finish this. I say we gather all of the mers we have an attack now. No good can come from waiting any longer.”

“Unfortunately, I agree.” Erwin sighed. “I hate that we don’t have time to wait or gather more people, but at the same time I hate all these people. Besides, I think their recent attack means that the large assault will come sooner rather than later. It would be best if we attacked first.”

“You see my train of thought, then.” Levi said with a slight tilt of his head. Eren felt his tail starting to ache and let himself begin to drift down to the ground. Levi shot him a look and grabbed his hand, pulling him back up to Levi’s level. He wrapped an arm around Eren’s waist and made his tail sweep back a forth a little wider so that he could keep them both in position on his own.

“I see what needs to be done.” Erwin said, not commenting on what had just happened even though he had a smirk on his face that told Levi of the teasing to come. “We need to discuss the attack method again and then launch the offense. I assumed you’ve heard the rumors that there are more flanking?”

“I have. Let’s not change the plan much, though. I propose that I take Hange, Petra, and Oluo and we sweep the flanks while the main attack is going on to make sure there aren’t any coming up the sides.”

“That seems like the best course of action. If you find more than you can handle, disengage and find a way to pull them to the main force or get reinforcements.”

“Like there would be more than I could handle.” Levi snorted. Erwin raised an eyebrow.

“I hope you’re not being overconfident.” His friend told him warningly. Levi grinned, all teeth and unspoken threats, as he replied.

“Erwin, after what they did to my mate I could take on twenty blue-tails single-handedly, rip them scale from scale, and still be ready for more.”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoy it so far, kudos and comments make my day!


End file.
